Rail-drill



(No Model.)

M. M. MOORE. RAIL DRILL.

No. 599,399. Patented Feb. 22, 1898.

#2997722 %J6J' W 0 6 STATES PATENT FlFlCEt RAIL DRlLL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,399, dated February 22, 1898. Application filed April 3 1897. Serial No. 630,618. (No model.)

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MOSES M. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail-Drills, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in rail-drills, my object being to provide improved means for gripping the rail to permit the drill-tool to be forced through the web thereof.

In the Operation of drilling holes in the web of a rail which is in place upon a track it is of the utmost importance to the satisfactory operation of the drill that the forces acting upon the rail shall be so adjusted that there shall be no unbalanced moment tending to turn the rail; otherwise a bending strain is exerted upon the tool which renders its operation difficult in proportion to the flexure produced in it, which of course in turn depends upon the magnitude of the unbalanced moment. Obviously it is impossible to accomplish the desired result when the grip-hooks are caused to bear upon either the top portion or bottom portion alone of the rail. When the grip-hooks are caused to bear upon the web, the equilibrium is preserved so long only as the points of attachment of the hooks to the drill-frame, the points of the contact between the hook-points and the rail, and the point of the drill-tool are all in one plane. As soon as the drill-point is thrown out of this plane for any reason, as by reason of the unevenness of the track or by an attempt to drill a hole above the center of the web, say, the equilibrium is destroyed, with the bad results spoken of above.

I overcome the objectionable features incident to the use of constructions, such as those named, by providing a construction which causes the grip-hooks to bear upon both the top flange and bottom flange of the rail and by the further provision of means for causing a counterbalancing moment which tends to preserve the equilibrium should a turning moment be produced by reason of the drillpoint being out of the center line. Certain advantages of construction and use arising from the locating of the tightening means at the points of the grip-hooks will be pointed out in the description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation of a rail-drill provided with my improved rail-gripping mechanism, the adj usting-handle being thrown to clamp the drill to a rail-section; Fig. 2, a plan view of the detached grip-hooks in place upon a rail-section; Fig. 3, a broken sectional view of swi vol-mounted clamps carried by the griphooks, the section being taken on line 3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4:, an end view of the griphooks and attendant parts in place upon the rail-section.

A is the drill-frame, B the ratchet-operated bevel-gears, and C the operating-handle.

The frame may be of any suitable construction, as of that shown in my application for an improvement in rail-drills filed January 27, 1897, and bearing Serial No. 620,985, and

preferably is provided with side bars A, which are here shown as rigid with the frame, but which may be made to have a movement longitudinal of the frame for tightening the griphooks, as described in said application.

To the bars A, one of which is located at each side of the frame, are pivotally attached grip-hooks curved, as shown, and provided at their curved ends with perforations for the pivotal attachment of clamping-bars t 25. Each clamping-bar is bent, preferably,to form a yoke embracing the clamping-hook and with the closed end above the hook. The hooks are provided with lugs s 8, each provided with a threaded hole for receiving adjustingscrews r '1". Joining the clamping-bars t and t is a shaft 19, provided toward the center of its length with an operating-handle n and at its ends with eccentrics m m, which are preferably housed by the bent bars, as shown. The rod 19 is close tom the rail side of the clamping-bars, so that when it is turned in the proper direction the eccentrics are thrown against the rail to force the clamping-bars away from the rail and thus to tighten the clamp-hooks. The eccentric m is provided with a lug Z, which is arranged to bear against the under side of the tread portion of the rail after the eccentric has been thrown slightly past a dead-center. Such an arrangement prevents the hooks from slipping up, and the lug Z against the rail.

greater the force exerted through the hooks the harder it would be to unlock the device.

By arranging the tightening means at the outer ends of the hooks and causing the clamps to bear upon the top and bottom portions of the rail I am enabled to reduce the necessary throw of the eccentric very greatly. This is true especially of drills made for use with street-railway rails, where the flanges are wide and it is not possible to employ-a hook bearing upon the web without providing a very large throw for loosening the hooks sufficiently to allow them to be thrown over the top.

In operation the hooks are thrown to the position shown in Fig. 3, the handle n resting upon the rail. The handle it is then forced to the position shown in Fig. 1, when the eccentric is slightly past a dead-center and the lug Z bears against the rail. It will be seen that the greater the force now exerted upon the eccentric the harder it forces the In ordinary drilling this would probably be sufficient; but suppose now it is desired to drill a hole above the center line. In such case the turning effect above noted would follow were no provision made to counteract it. If now the setscrews 1" r are caused to bear against the upper ends of the clamping-bars, the latter are locked against turning about. their points of swivel attachment. It should be noted that the rail tends to turn about its lower outer edge and that the effect of locking the links by means of the set-screws is to cause the whole grip-hook frame to tend to lift the drillframe and to rotate about the lower outer edge of the clamping-bars. This tendency is partly overcome by the weight of the drill acting on the large leverage of the grip-hooks, and any unbalanced force may be met by the operator placing his foot upon the drill-fram e.

It would be within the scope of my invention to provide any other suitable means for tightening the grip-hooks, the essential thing being the construction involving a contact at the upper and lower portions of the rail.

It should be noticed that in this construction I still preserve the important feature of allowing the clamp-hooks to be thrown back closely upon the drill-frame to permit the drill to remain upon the track during the passage of a train.

I desire to be understood as in no sense limiting myself in matters of detail by the particular description given above, except as shall appear from the appended claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rail-drill, the combination with the drill-operating mechanism and frame there for, of pivotally-mounted grip-hooks curved to pass over the top of the rail and provided toward their curved ends with pivotallymounted clamping-bars for engaging the rail at its top and bottom portions, upon the side opposite that of the drill, substantially as set forth.

2. In a rail-drill, the combination with the drill-operating mechanism and horizontallydisposed frame therefor, of pivotally-mounted grip-hooks having their pivotal axis parallel to the rail, said hooks passing over the top of the rail and engaging the top and bottom flanges thereof, on the side opposite the drill,

and means for tightening the hooks with relation to the rail, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rail-drill, the combination with the clamp-hooks thereof, adapted to pass over the top of the rail, and journaled in the frame on an axis parallel to the rail, of clamping-bars swivel-mounted on the curved ends of said hooks, to engage the fail on the side opposite the drill, and eccentric means carried by said bars for tightening the clamp-hooks with re lation to the rail, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a rail-drill, the combination with the drill-operating mechanism and horizontallydisposed frame therefor, of grip-hooks journaled in the frame upon an axis parallel to the rail and provided with curved ends, clamping-bars swivel-mounted at the curved ends of said hooks for engaging the rail on the outer side of its top and bottom flanges, means for tightening the hooks with relation to the rail, and means for preventing the upward slipping of the hooks, substantially as described.

5. In a rail-drill, the combination with the drill-operating mechanism and frame therefor, of a grip-hook pivotally mounted at each side of the frame, clamping bars swivelmounted at the curved ends of said clamphooks,a shaft journaled in the clamping-bars, eccentrics carried by said shaft, and an operating-handle for rocking said shaft to tighten and loosen the grip-hooks, substantially as set forth.

MOSES M. MOORE.

In presence of- J. H. LEE, M. S. MACKENZIE. 

